Tuesday, February 23, 2016

There's a New Chef in Town!

Do you ever feel like you just cannot cook one more dinner?  or, like planning and shopping for this week's meals is just too, too much?

I've been feeling that way a lot recently.  I started to roughly calculate how many dinners i have cooked, and found it too depressing.  So, when a single-father friend of ours recently sent me a coupon for HelloFresh(TM) , I jumped at it.

You know the concept.  You choose the meals and they ship them out weekly.  Here's what arrived chez nous on Saturday.

We got three meals for two - all packed and ready to go, with the meats packed in ice packs and all in very good condition.  My biggest problem was getting it all into the refrigerator!
Cold stuff on the bottom with freezer packs; then the dry ingredients and veggies all in a box.

One box and one meat package per meal.


Saturday night we had "Chili Roasted Shrimp with Spinach and White Beans".
Everything's in the box except oil, salt and pepper.  See the small package on the left?  It's two cloves of garlic - all peeled and ready to mince.
The literally step-by-step directions are clear and include plenty of photos and a good time line.  Once it's all prepped, it looked like this. 

The shrimp are roasting in the oven, while i cook the veggies and beans.

And, finally plated up.  It looks good and tasted great!


Sunday we had Honey-Gllazed Roast Pork and tonight it will be Mozzarella-Crusted Chicken.  In our first box we had Peppercorn Steak, Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken Saltimocca, and Shrimp and Lemon Risotto. 

First, let me say that Hello Fresh (TM) has in no way paid me*.  

Now we have now eaten five meals and all have been easy to prepare and delicious.  I have enjoyed trying new recipes and especially have loved not having to plan and shop.

For us (in Richmond) the cost of these three meals is just about what we spend for one dinner (with wine) in a decent - not great - restaurant.

There are a number of these services out there.  If you have been wanting to try one, i would not only recommend Hello Fresh (TM), but can give you a "coupon" number to save $40 on your first order.  You can get meals for two or four.  They come with a standard order each week, but you can make some substitution.  There is also a vegetarian option.

We are currently getting meals every other week, while i empty out the well-stocked freezer we have, but the day will probably come when we do it weekly. 

It's almost like having a Personal Shopper for the kitchen!

If you're intrigued, check out there website www.hellofresh.com for better information; and if you want the coupon email me at webb2206@hotmail.com.   *Full disclosure:  If you use my coupon, I will get a credit on my account, so that will be "payment".